It seems like everyone has the answers to gardening but you, right? Everyone else’s grass is prettier, greener, and weed-less. You’re wondering, “How often should I water my garden?” “Am I overwatering my grass?” “Am I underwatering my grass?” “What do I do if I have plants that need less water and some that need more water?”
All these questions about proper gardening can make you throw in the towel, hire a gardener and save yourself the trouble (and wet shoes). But clearly, you want to give it a shot. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this post.
The number of times and days you water your grass may largely come down to what exactly is in your grass (i.e., weed killer, grass seed, plants, new soil, trees, etc.). As long as you start off being able to identify what’s already there (or at least reading the instructions of what was recently planted), you are a step in the right direction.
How Often Should I water the Garden – Everything you Need to know
When is the best time to water a garden?
If your grass is green, chances are that the soil doesn’t have enough food or water. This can happen if you water your grass when it’s already very humid and dry outside. For this reason, it’s best to water your grass very early in the day when the sunlight is the weakest.
Does this mean you should water at night? No, because that could lead to an uptick in insects and fungus. And if you use sprinklers, make sure they are close to the ground instead of overhead ones where the water tends to splash everywhere but the soil. (On windy days, these higher-up sprinklers may do a better job of watering your neighbors’ plants than yours.)
How much water is enough?
Sprinkling water on the top of your grass is about like taking a bird bath instead of a shower. Yes, you will moisturize on a surface level, but the soil needs to be watered deeply in order for nutrients in grass to grow from the soil and up.
Make sure to keep this in mind when watering plants. Instead of just turning the flowerpot diagonal to water the top of the plants, you must water the soil of the plants. As with grass, the soil for plants needs to be deeply watered from the root level.
If you’re not sure whether your plants are being watered deep enough, stick your finger in the soil. If your hand comes out dry, then that means there’s not enough water going into the soil area. Chances are it’s just going on the plant foliage. Eventually, that will dry out your perfectly good plants. You may have to move your sprinklers around to get a good angle though. Mulch beds tend to hold moisture if you decide to use these arrangements around your plants.
Weather Considerations
Unless you live in a hot-climate place, there are seasons where you will need to water your garden more than others. When you reach temperatures consistently in the 60s, you may water your grass once or twice a week. You can turn on the automatic sprinklers once it reaches 70 degrees and above consistently.
By the time your grass is in the 80s, you can start watering it every other day. On average, lawns should have about 1 to 2 inches of water each week. However, if you live in an area where it’s rainy and spring showers can do the trick, you may be able to hold off until the summer months.
Some homeowners manage to luck out and their grass does well on its own. Don’t depend on being one of those lucky ones. Check your soil at least once a week to make sure the soil is moist. That should tell you all you need to know. Make sure to avoid mowing your grass too quickly. While some gardeners say you can start mowing your lawn in the spring, avoid doing so when it’s under 3 inches. Mowing too low can stress new roots out and hurt your grass from growing naturally.
Bottom Line
So now that you have all these tips for how often to water your lawn, are you a little confused by why some instructions say otherwise? Don’t panic. There is no one-size-fits-all response to watering grass.
These are general rules of thumb, but your neighborhood, weather conditions and how your grass is treated on a day-to-day basis (no lawn chairs and kids stomping in it) are multiple reasons why you may not be able to copy the gardening tips of your friends and family in other neighborhoods.
If you decide to put down new plants or fresh grass seed, make sure to follow those gardening instructions, too. For example, new seed may need to be watered a few times a week until it grows back. Once it’s done, you can go back to watering as is.
Consider the following gardening blogs the Ram Research team have put together:
